


what comes after

by forpuckssake



Series: ice queen [9]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Gen, Women in the NHL, but make it futuristic, set in the future so i can ignore all problematic players and implement my own
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:41:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23226499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forpuckssake/pseuds/forpuckssake
Summary: Come at me,she silently dared.I'm ready this time.---Leave it to some dumbass kid to try and expose an entire team for being toxic to their young rookie.Louise Mackenzie is that dumbass kid.
Series: ice queen [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1311296
Comments: 52
Kudos: 87





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so my university is closed for the rest of the semester which means no extra curricular activities and i can't go to work anymore because we're also closed due to coronavirus so here i am 
> 
> i was thinking about little louise from the first few works of this series and so i started writing a little thing for my snippets dump but as soon as i hit 7k words and developed a bit of a plot i knew that wasn't gonna happen. 
> 
> funny enough i also complained like a week ago to julorean that i have writer's block and yet louise slapped me in the face and told me to write and how on earth can i say no to that?
> 
> also as a disclaimer i know next to nothing about how junior hockey leagues work but i did my best? plus typos are my nemesis as usual. please enjoy anyway!

“Hit it again, Lou—yes, just like that!”

Louise didn’t remember Elle Queen living in her house, but there were pictures in photo albums and all over Instagram to prove that the first woman to play in the NHL had stayed with the Mackenzie family for a few short weeks while she was a baby.

Louise vividly remembered other things, of course. She remembered Elle and another rookie that had lived with them, Theo, babysitting her and her brothers, sitting patiently as she toddled around and placed various frilly things upon their heads and shoulders.

Her favorite memory, though, was the first time she remembered being on the ice with Elle.

She couldn’t have been older than four, holding her tiny little hockey stick and shrieking delightedly as the puck she had just hit slid slowly across the ice. It stopped about three feet in front of Elle, her intended target.

“Good job!” her dad said, hovering just over her shoulder. He placed another puck in front of her. “Want to go again?”

“I want to be over _there_ ,” Louise said, pointing at the goal where Elle stood.

Elle beamed, and Mac sighed. “Yeah, okay.”

* * *

Anastasia Kucharskaya and the Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup.

Louise was still very young at the time, so she wasn’t quite old enough to understand the gravity of such a victory, but she watched Nat become the first woman to skate forward with her gold-painted lips stretched in a huge grin and a shiny silver cup held above her head and Louise knew that she wanted that, too.

* * *

She was a horrible goalie.

Peewee hockey kind of sucked, mostly because Louise insisted with all the authority and bossiness that she could muster as a five-year-old that she be in goal.

Now, it was not surprising that she was far from perfect. How could she be when it was only her first time in net and she was only barely past being a toddler?

While no one certainly expected her to be perfect, they also didn’t expect her to be the worst out of the other twenty kids on the team, either.

“How about we try skating instead?” one of the coaches suggested lightly at a practice following their 10-0 loss that weekend. “I bet scoring a goal is just as fun as stopping them!”

Louise’s bottom lip trembled and, fearing a break down from the only girl on the team, she was allowed to stay mostly in net.

* * *

Though she was horrible at stopping pucks, Landon and Levi made sure their sister could outskate everyone on her team.

Their father would take them all to the rink during open skates at the rink near their house and then her brothers would each grab on of Louise’s hands and skate around with her. Mac always hovered close like he was afraid Louise would fall despite the support, but Landon was twelve and could easily have supported her all on his own. Levi just wanted to feel like he was being useful.

They sped along the ice with her between them, eventually getting to the point where they would let go and get Louise to chase after them. The first couple of times she fell flat on her face or on her butt, but after a few sessions she was skating along quickly, even if not very gracefully.

* * *

Louise was put on the ice as a center for a game, and though she scowled and pouted the whole time, she assisted in two of the four goals scored, and for once they didn’t lose because someone other than her was in net.

She scored her first goal in her third game as a forward, and it was the best feeling, being swamped by your screaming teammates.

She proceeded to score some more, and assisted on a few, and after that she never wanted to stop.

* * *

Her favorite team growing up was the Flyers for very obvious reasons.

(Not that she would ever admit it to Elle, but Louise had also been a fan of the Penguins when they weren’t playing the Flyers, but that was because Gavin had taken a slash from Louise’s plastic hockey stick and played dead for a solid five minutes while Louise cackled and poked at him where he lay prone on the floor of the Mackenzie basement.)

She had thrown an absolute fit when she grew out of her tiny Queen jersey. Elle had been quick to drive to their house to personally deliver her a new one.

Louise wore the jersey to bed that night, the number 13 proudly displayed on her back and sleeves.

* * *

Louise was a bit older when Elle Queen and the Philadelphia Flyers won the Stanley Cup.

It was game seven of the final, and the Flyers had come back from a 0-3 deficit to force extra games. Elle had been quick to offer tickets to the Mackenzie’s, knowing fully-well that Louise was pretty much her biggest fan. The Mackenzie family sat in the same row as the Queen family. Girl Gang was there in their own Elle Queen jerseys, as was Gavin Daley, who looked very out of place in orange.

Louise insisted she sit between Nat and Gavin, and she chattered their ears off the entire time. She rattled off everything she knew, from Elle’s save percentage to the team’s faceoff win percentage and so on. Nat and Gavin listened intently, even though their eyes were trained mostly on the ice.

Louise didn’t mind that since her eyes were mostly on the ice, too.

The Flyers were down 3-2 in the first period, and after a scoreless second, they came out swinging again in the third. In the final five minutes of the game, Carter Hart was pulled, and in true Flyers fashion, they managed to tie the game to force overtime.

It was truly poetic to watch Michael Theodore score the overtime goal, and no one screamed louder than Elle did from where she was sitting on the bench.

The stadium erupted, Flyers fans cheering and screaming and hugging every stranger that was around them. Louise hugged her mom and then leaped at Nat, demanding to be held up so she could see the action on the ice. Nat, being the tallest of the bunch at 6’1, obliged, lifting Louise onto her shoulder so she could see above everyone. She watched as the Flyers flooded the ice, hugging and screaming just as much as their fans.

Travis Konecny ended up with the Conn Smythe, which came as no surprise to Louise, and then he was the first to lift the Stanley Cup above his head and take a lap as was customary for the captain of the team to do. He passed it on to Nolan Patrick and it went on from there until Carter Hart got a hold of it. He took his lap and then passed it to Elle, who was crying and smiling at the same time as she took her lap.

“I’m gonna do that,” Louise said, drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

Nat was the only one to hear her. “You will,” she agreed. “You get Conn Smythe too, yes?”

Louise grinned. She liked a challenge.

* * *

Sometimes, the boys would make fun of her.

Louise knew _exactly_ what she wanted, after all, and she had no problem being vocal about it. In elementary school, they had a career day every year where different people of varying professions would come in and talk to different classes. They were firefights and police officers and nurses and doctors, but none of them played professional sports.

Teachers would give out assignments for their students to complete, all focused around what they wanted to be when they grew up. Every year without fail, Louise said she wanted to be an NHL hockey player.

And, well, that wasn’t exactly an acceptable career path. It was okay for the boys to want to be hockey players or football players and what-have-you. The girls wanted to be nurses or doctors or president, and even that was more acceptable that a professional athlete.

Louise learned rather quickly that boys hated to think a girl was better than them. When they thought she was too big, she was forced to be small.

She remembered vividly being ten years old in science class, nearly weeping when she heard the _snk_ of scissors behind her. When she turned, a chunk of her red hair was on the floor.

“Whoops,” Gilbert Arnolds said innocently. “I thought you needed a haircut to blend in with the rest of the boys.”

Gilbert was suspended for two days and Louise was forced to get her long hair cut into a chin-length bob, which was kind of all over the place as her hair was a mess of frizzy curls that made her look like she was straight out of an eighties movie.

There were stares and muffled snickers when Louise walked into school the next day, her face nearly as red as her hair as she kept her eyes downcast and focused on the floor rather than the people around her. She was doing a very good job of ignoring everyone until a pair of shoes appeared in her field of vision, and when she looked up, Juliet James beamed back at her.

“I love your haircut,” she said. “You have really pretty hair.”

Juliet had been the first to notice Louise take in a shaky breath and try not to cry when Gilbert cut her hair, and she had immediately gone up to their teacher and explained what happened. She was also the one to walk both Gilbert and Louise to the principal’s office, standing between the two of them and glaring at Gilbert the whole way.

Juliet wanted to be a doctor so she could help people. She said the same thing every year for as far back as Louise could remember during every career day, and she had no doubt Juliet would succeed.

“I asked Mrs. Elvsted if I could switch seats with Gilbert,” Juliet continued while Louise stared at her, dumbfounded. “I hope that’s okay with you.”

Louise nodded mutely, stepping around Juliet and heading straight for her seat. Moments later, Juliet settled in behind her, humming quietly to herself.

“You play hockey, right?” Juliet asked.

“Yeah,” Louise mumbled.

“That’s cool. I can’t skate at all. Soccer is more my thing.”

Louise knew all too well. Juliet was, after all, the most talented player on their school’s co-ed team.

“But hockey has forwards too, doesn't it?” Juliet went on. Louise turned so that she didn’t appear rude, and her new seat neighbor grinned triumphantly. “I’m a forward. I play midfield.”

“I’m a center,” Louise said. “I guess it’s kind of similar.”

“Maybe you should come to one of my games,” Juliet said cheerily. “And I could go to one of yours!” Hastily, she tacked on, “No pressure, of course. I know you’re busy, but our seasons are at different times so we can probably make it work. I’ve never been to a hockey game.”

“Well,” Louise said slowly, “I actually have one this weekend…”

Juliet beamed, and though she didn’t know it at the time, Louise had made a friend for life.

* * *

Landon was drafted by Seattle in the fifth round when Louise was eleven years old, and Louise lost her partner in crime when it came to playing ball hockey in the driveway.

Levi tried to work with her still. He had long since abandoned hockey as his main sport, deciding instead that baseball was what he liked more. They did their best to help each other out: Landon would stand in front of an old net in the driveway while Louise took shots at him, and Louise would go with him to the park and catch his pitches.

At the same time her brother was tearing it up in the AHL, Louise was going to practices and games and working as hard as she could. She was determined that she would be playing in the same league as her brother one day, after all.

* * *

Levi went off to college, and Louise found that being an only child was far too quiet.

She spent a lot of time at the rink with her dad, running drills and skating so hard that her legs hurt almost constantly. Her timed lap was getting faster and faster, though, and Louise was so close she could almost taste it.

Juliet was far from the best goalie around, but as long as Louise didn't mind kicking around a soccer ball occasionally she was content to stand in front of a hockey net in the Mackenzie household driveway and stop every tennis ball she could.

Both Louise and Juliet were fifteen and in their sophomore years of high school. After this season Louise would be OHL eligible, and she was determined to get _someone’s_ attention.

* * *

Her parents got a call from the Niagara IceDogs. It turned out they had used their second-round pick on Louise, which came as a shock to the entire Mackenzie family.

Of course, since Elle Queen burst onto the hockey scene in 2023 there were female players in some of the minor and junior leagues already. Louise knew that there were at least three other active girls in the OHL and a few women in the AHL, not to mention the six active women in the NHL that season. Hockey was still very much a man’s world, and none of the other talented women that Louise knew of had ever gone higher than the third or fourth round in any draft.

What else could Louise say but yes when the opportunity presented itself?

* * *

Louise learned early on not to take shit.

One might think that growing up with two older brothers would be part of this learning process, but Levi and Landon had been the best brothers she could ever ask for. They never treated her like she was different, never pulled their punches literally and figuratively, but they didn’t hesitate to stand up for her either.

Her teammates had always been welcoming, too, for the most part. She hadn’t had any bad experiences other than the occasional chirp about girls not being good at hockey or too prissy and what-have-you.

She should have realized that playing in a league known for churning out some professional players would be a little less welcoming than the kids she had grown up playing with her entire life.

“It’s kind of funny,” the winger she was pressed up against murmured as they stared at the faceoff about to take place.

“What is?” Louise asked, her eyes focused on the puck in the referee’s hand. She wished she was playing center like she was used to, but her coach had put her on the wing for a reason and she was going to play her new role to the best of her ability.

It was the first game of the season, the first game that Louise would be playing with her new team. She couldn’t deny that she was excited; she had been waiting for this moment for what felt like forever, and she knew that the NHL was only a step and two short years away if she could be impressive in this league now. Her family was in the stands all wearing their new red jerseys with 96, Mackenzie printed on the back, identical to the brand new one she had put on for the first time that evening. It was crazy to think her name might one day make it onto an NHL jersey, too.

“The IceDogs. They don’t really need a team mascot when they’ve got two _actual_ bitches on the team, do they?”

Louise thought about her sweet mother sitting in the stands, soft-spoken naturally but probably screaming at the top of her lungs with her daughter starting on the first line for an OHL team. If she could hear the things this guy was saying, she’d be devastated.

In hockey, being polite on the ice was rarely an option. Louise knew that, but there was also a line, and this asshole had crossed it. The mere thought of her mother hearing those kind of words directed at her daughter was something Louise couldn’t fathom.

She then thought about Gilbert in fifth grade and his snickers as he cut her hair, violating her personal space and trying to make her feel small. For a moment, Louise wished she could go back and take the scissors to his hair, too.

She knew the women that had come before her would never take shit lying down, and she wasn’t about to either.

“Golly gee you're absolutely correct! You scared that a couple of bitches might be better than you, bud?” she asked cheekily.

The puck dropped and Louise took off, leaving the sputtering boy far behind her.

* * *

The Niagara IceDogs were the only OHL team with two female players on their team.

Louise was one, of course, and Olivier Lemieux was the other.

Olivier was very quick to reassure that she had no relation to any previous NHL Lemieux. She actually hated her surname because she didn’t want to be asked “As in Mario Lemieux?” every time someone heard her name for the first time. That was part of the reason why she had chosen to be a goalie when she was younger: to distance herself from all the forwards who shared the same last name.

“Also, I wanted to be just like Elle Queen,” Olivier giggled in her thick Quebecois accent.

Louise could relate. As a kid, she had wanted to be just like Elle Queen, too.

Olivier turned eighteen in Louise’s first year with the IceDogs, and everyone was convinced it would be her last season as the draft approached. When the IceDogs were booted from the playoffs that year, Louise returned home to her family and paid close attention to hockey news, hoping to see her teammate make it.

The Sabres won the Stanley Cup, so that was a thing that dominated a lot of NHL talk for a few weeks. When the draft came up, Louise eagerly checked her phone with the start of each round.

Olivier went undrafted. No woman was drafted that year, and Louise wondered if so many steps forward was resulting in a few hundred steps backwards.

* * *

Olivier returned for the following season with a new furrow between her perfectly trimmed brows, more determined than ever.

“They don’t want to pick me? Fine,” she had said. “Make sure they regret that.”

Their first game of the season with Olivier in net was a shutout, and only one goal was allowed in their second and third games. Olivier started out the season with a 0.975 save percentage, and she hardly ever faltered as the season wore on.

Between Olivier and Allen, the IceDogs’ backup goalie, and the effort of the offensive lines, they made it to the playoffs for the fourth straight time, and the second time with Louise on their roster.

It was a grueling time for the IceDogs, but Olivier had something to prove and Louise wanted to be noticed more than anything since she would be draft eligible when summer rolled around. They were a talented team, but Louise was convinced it was her and Olivier’s combined spite that really pushed them over that final threshold to win the J Cup.

“One more!” Louise screamed as she leaped into Oliver’s arms, pads and all, pulling her close.

“Let’s go!” Olivier shouted back.

* * *

Somehow, they did it.

It was all a bit of a blur. They were up against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, a team that knew what it was like to lift the Memorial Cup, unlike the IceDogs who had never won as a franchise _ever_.

The two teams were tied going into the final game, a winner-take-all event that had the Memorial Cup on the line. Louise skated harder than she ever had before, doing her best to keep the puck within her team’s possession and driving at the net any chance she got.

She didn’t remember scoring, but she knew she had done something when her lineys all screamed in her face as they threw their arms around each other, dragging her in for a celebration hug.

She did remember the final buzzer, though, and looking up at the scoreboard. 3-1 in their favor. They had won.

Louise screamed as she made a beeline for Olivier, who had already thrown her blocker and glove down and was ripping off her helmet. She leaped into her goalie’s arms and screamed some more, and then their entire team was joining in. They were one big pile of screaming, sweaty limbs.

“I bet every single team regrets not drafting you now!” Louise yelled above the screaming. “They’re going to be blowing up your phone trying to sign you!”

“I’ll see you there,” Olivier yelled back, and Louise hoped she was right.

If an OHL victory could feel this sweet, she couldn’t even imagine what winning the Stanley Cup would be like.

* * *

They were predicting that Louise Mackenzie was to be drafted in the first round. Though Eleanor Queen had been the first woman ever drafted and Anastasia Kucharskaya had been the first female player to have her name engraved on the Stanley Cup, neither had been drafted first round. In fact, out of the first four women signed to the NHL, only Elle had ever been drafted until after Nat’s team had won the Cup.

Louise was placed at seventh in some mock drafts, though others placed her much lower. She was well aware she wouldn’t be first, but she was determined that she was going in the top thirty-two.

“I’m sure you will,” Olivier hummed over FaceTime the night before the draft. “Third in goals, second in assists. They would be stupid not to pick you.”

“We’ll see,” Louise said with a shrug. “You know this league hates women.”

“Doesn't matter. We are both gonna kick _ass_ tomorrow.”

* * *

Louise received a second call that night shortly after she and Olivier said their goodbyes.

“Hey,” Elle Queen said. “I’ve been looking at some stats. Seventh overall, eh?”

Louise snickered. “Who knows? You weren’t expected to be drafted at all, yet you were. I could go sooner or later. Nothing’s ever set in stone.”

“Trust me, I know,” Elle agreed. “Are you nervous?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Well, I’d tell you don’t be, but I know your parents probably have already and that it will do nothing to calm your nerves.”

“Oh yeah.”

Elle laughed. “Well,” she said after a moment, “I can’t wait. When you're playing in the NHL, I can take Caleb and Cass to see you when you’re in town, and then I can embarrass you by telling them I’ve changed your diapers before.”

Louise rolled her eyes. “I mean, there’s videos of me literally throwing a tantrum because I wasn’t allowed to play hockey like you. I’m as embarrassed as I’m ever gonna get.”

“Perhaps,” Elle said. “That’s going to be you, though. Some parent is going to post a video of their kid screaming in your jersey and it’ll come full circle.”

Louise beamed because, well, wouldn’t that just be the coolest thing ever?

* * *

“Hey, Dad?”

William Mackenzie looked up from where he’d been sitting in the hotel room chair, quirking a brow in question.

Louise held a bright red lipstick in one hand and a softer pink in the other. “Should I go bold or, like, slightly more subtle?”

Her father sighed. “I’m not really the one to ask, Lou. What matches what you’re wearing better?”

“Well, I’m wearing all black,” Louise said. “I have to look like a badass. Men need to fear me.”

Her fuzzy space socks and messy curls sticking up in every direction from her head were decidedly _not_ badass, but Louise was ready to show up to the draft throwing punches if need be.

“So go with red,” Mac said.

Louise frowned. “Is it _too_ much though?”

Her mom was perched fully dressed for the draft on Louise’s bed, rolling her eyes fondly at the scene. “Too much is your brand, isn’t it?”

Louise looked down at the lipstick. She rather liked the idea of being too much. No one ever knew how to deal with _too much_.

She was ready to skate circles around them. “Yeah, maybe it is.”

* * *

Reporters covering the draft kept stopping the prospects for interviews, and Louise was no exception.

“Rumor has it that you’re expected to go in the first round.”

“Maybe,” Louise said with a shrug. “I’m just excited to be here. First round or sixth, I just want to play.”

“Now, Eleanor Queen was drafted in the sixth round,” the reporter continued. “Is she someone you looked up to as a kid playing hockey?”

“Of course,” Louise said eagerly. “Elle actually played with my dad when she was with the Phantoms, and there was a short time that she lived with my family. She babysat me all the time when I was growing up, and I really wanted to be her.” She grinned. “I was a horrible goaltender, though. I really respect what Elle contributed to the game, but I also remember watching the Knights win the Cup for the first time and seeing Nat Kucharskaya on TV, and I loved watching really great centers like Victoria Rodriguez and Jocelyn Bard.”

“Are you expecting any negativity?” he asked. “Though you’re now one of many women that have come through as draft prospects, none have ever been projected to go as early as you. Do you anticipate backlash?”

“I mean, yeah?” Louise pursed her lips. “As much as the NHL and hockey as a whole have progressed, there are still only six active female players in the league, and there have been ten total. There are always gonna be people out there saying women don’t belong in this league, y’know?”

“How do you think you’ll respond?”

Louise grinned wickedly. “I think I’ll just say _I’ll see you on the other side of the glass_.”

* * *

Louise felt like she was going to throw up.

The bravado that she had displayed to the media was all but gone, her shoulders feeling tight and hunched as she sat in her seat between her dad and her eldest brother.

Landon nudged her bouncing leg with his knee. “Calm down,” he said.

It was easy for him to say. He had been signed to Seattle for years, and though she had only been eleven at the time, Louise remembered him being just as nervous on his own draft day.

“I don’t think I can,” she said.

On Landon’s other side, Levi let out a heaving sigh. “If anyone should be nervous, it’s me. I have money on you going in the top five.”

“Well, you’re a bit of an idiot, then, aren’t you?” Louise said cheerfully. “You didn’t do your research with the mock drafts. Most have me going later than that.”

Levi knew almost nothing about hockey because it had never caught his interest in the same way it caught the other Mackenzie kids. He was the only one of the three of them to go to college and play a sport other than hockey. Standing on a mound of dirt throwing baseballs was more his speed.

“I looked,” Levi protested. “But I have more faith in my sister than any analyst.”

Louise felt warmth bloom in her chest.

“Also if I win this bet between my friends I’ll have bragging rights _for life_.”

She stared at him, the moment ruined and her stress returning.

Her phone buzzed with an incoming text, and she stopped staring stupidly at her brother long enough to glance down.

_Juliet  
I’m watching you on tv!! Good luck, you’ll do great! _

Louise relaxed just a little. Even when brothers failed, she could always count on her best friend to make her feel better.

* * *

A Canadian forward went first overall in the 2041 draft. Sean Pelletier had the most goals in the QMJHL the last two years in a row, and he grinned as he put on the green Stars jersey, totally and completely at ease in front of the large crowd. He had been projected to go first for their draft class for years, after all.

Boris Yahontov went second, and if Don Cherry were still around Louise knew he’d be quaking with anger. The large Russian walked onstage with his head raised confidently, a smirk clear as day on his face as he accepted the Coyotes jersey.

Then something happened that shook Louise to her very core: the Leafs called her name for their third overall pick.

Louise was pretty sure her mouth was hanging wide open. She certainly couldn’t hear anything—her brothers were standing, their mouths moving but not emitting any sound. Her mom and dad had also stood, both grinning down at where she still sat.

“Third,” she finally managed. “I’m third.”

Sound rushed back all at once, and Landon had pulled her to her feet and into his arms, telling her how proud and excited he was for her. Levi grabbed her next, babbling something about he knew more than hockey analysts.

Her parents hugged her and then suddenly she was in the aisle, walking toward the blue and white jersey that was about to be hers.

* * *

Louise accepted the jersey from the GM that had announced her name. She held it out to put on and laughed at the number 13 on the back.

* * *

Sean and Boris both offered their congratulations when she was ushered toward the back.

"I saw the Memorial Cup final," Sean said as they shook hands. His team had been in the playoffs in the Q but they had lost to the Titan right before the final series. "You were really great. I'm excited to play against you."

Boris, who was 6'3 and towered over both of them, eagerly shook her hand as well. "Not good English," he apologized. "But you very good."

Louise beamed. "Thank you," she said. "You're really good, too."

The three of them huddled together as the obligatory top three picture was taken, and Sean slung his arm around her shoulders as well as Boris's waist. "We're gonna kill it this year, guys," he said, and Louise couldn't agree more.

* * *

Olivier was drafted in the fourth round to the Montreal Canadiens, her childhood favorite team.

There had been ten women in the NHL before, and Louise was thrilled to see that number jump up to twelve.

* * *

“How does it feel to be the first—?”

“I'm gonna stop you right there before you say something stupid. Do you reporters _ever_ get new material or do you all spout the same questions?” Louise groaned. “It’s fantastic! I’m so excited and honored to have gone in the top three, just like every man you’ve asked about going first or second, and every woman who has done something amazing in the last twenty years in this sport. Answers haven’t changed, just like your boring-ass questions.” She massaged her temples. “Now, does anyone else want to ask me what it’s like to be the _first woman_ or ask me some _real_ questions?”

Elle Queen would watch the interview as it unfolded on live TV and _cackle_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i didn't notice this last time but apparently i posted the first chapter of this story on the one year anniversary of this series!! it's crazy that i've been writing about elle and co for a year now.
> 
> i just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has loved this story and these characters as much as i have. whether you've been following elle's journey from the very beginning or joined along the way or are reading this series for the first time right now, i'm so thankful for each and every kudos and comment. i started writing this series as a fun little "what if?" thing and it grew from there with encouragement from all of you, so elle's story is as much yours as it is mine. thank you so much!!
> 
> as usual i did my best with typos but i am only human so feel free to correct me if you notice anything, and you can find me at puckthisleague on tumblr if you have any requests for my snippets series for this 'verse
> 
> without further ado, here's chapter 2 :)

Louise made the starting lineup right out of training camp.

Being a woman in the NHL was something she thought she would need some getting used to, but her team welcomed her with open arms.

Marlen Vasilyev was their newly minted captain, and he had made it quite clear from the moment training camp began that he expected nothing but the utmost respect in his locker room. He pointedly cornered Louise after the first day of training, towering over her with a stern look.

“You have problem, you tell me,” he ordered. “You are rookie. Worry about score goals, yes? Not worry about _assholes_.”

Louise nodded frantically, feeling very intimidated despite the kind words.

Marlen’s stern look melted away into a cheery smile, and he placed his large hand upon her head. “Very good. I feel like you are smartest rookie I’m ever meet.”

The rest of the team was perfectly pleasant, and no one gave her any trouble. Louise remembered hearing stories from Elle and Nat and even Breezy and Allie about their first couple of years in the NHL where women being present was still a new and mostly unexplored concept and people were rude and didn’t know what to make of them.

Nearly twenty years since Elle Queen first stepped foot into the Flyers’ locker room, it seemed that some definite changes had been made. Louise’s stall was on the end of a row closest to the door leading to the showers and bathroom stalls so she could escape quickly have her privacy if she wanted, and she was seated next to a veteran centerman who was all too happy to make small talk or simply sit next to her in comfortable silence.

The other rookies were just as nice. No one said anything to make her uncomfortable or question her presence, and Louise felt a sense of calm come over her. Maybe some things really had changed since Elle’s early days with the league.

* * *

Louise didn’t like to be wrong, and she had let herself be too comfortable with the Leafs because things had definitely _not_ changed everywhere.

“ _Holy fuck_ you’re tiny. I could pick you up and chuck you into the stands, what the fuck.”

Louise scowled across the faceoff dot.

It was her first shift in her first NHL game. She was on the second line for their home-opener, and she was absolutely thrilled to be making her debut at just eighteen years old. She had not only been the first woman to be drafted in the first round and in the top three, but she was now officially the youngest woman to start in an NHL game.

And _of course_ some jackass had to ruin it, and _of course_ they had to be playing the Bruins because the NHL was nothing if not dramatic for loving a good rivalry.

“Try it,” she said, hunching over to take the draw.

“Aw, you wouldn’t want that, sweetheart.”

Louise lowered her head so that she was looking up through her eyelashes, which she batted flirtatiously. “Wouldn’t I?”

The center for the Bruins blinked back in startled surprise, and when the puck dropped Louise was on it in an instant, passing it off to the right. She snickered as she skated away from him and he scrambled like an idiot trying to get after her.

Louise didn’t hit them with the four, but she managed an assist late in the first period, and her linemate Kody Sinclair was quick to retrieve the puck before joining in on the goal celebration hug. He patted Louise on the helmet before skating toward the bench and tossing the puck to a trainer as he went on to high five the rest of the team.

She finished out the game with another assist, and even though they had to go to overtime to get the win, they still managed it. Louise was more than happy with her first game.

* * *

They proceeded to lose, and lose, and lose some more, and Louise realized that for every win that felt amazing, there were losses that felt even worse.

* * *

The Leafs weren’t doing too great when it came to wins, but they were amazing as teammates. Louise counted that as a personal victory.

She pulled her suitcase along behind her as she left the lobby, excited to finally be leaving the same hotel room that she had been staying in for almost a month at that point. She walked out the front doors and found Kody idling by the sidewalk in his car, his wife in the passenger seat.

Marissa looked up as Louise approached and beamed, turning to smack her husband on the shoulder to get his attention. Kody straightened immediately, looking over at Louise before getting out of the car and heading to the trunk.

After Marlen, Kody was the veteran in the locker room with the most experience. He was a calm presence compared to Marlen’s intimidating stature, wearing his A with a quiet kind of leadership. He was always checking in on Louise and the other rookies to make sure that they were doing okay outside of hockey and in their personal lives. His worry over Louise stressing herself out and being on her own was what had initiated him to invite her to stay with him in the first place.

“Is this everything?” he asked.

Louise just had her suitcase and her hockey bag with her. “Yeah, this is everything,” she confirmed, letting him take her bag as she shoved her suitcase into the trunk.

She climbed into the backseat as Kody headed back to the front. Little Devin stared at her from his car seat, curiously regarding the stranger that was suddenly securing her seatbelt beside him. She wiggled her fingers in greeting, and he kicked his feet against his car seat. It was as good a greeting as any. 

“How are you, Louise?” Marissa asked cheerily from the passenger seat.

“I’m good,” Louise replied. “Thank you both again, you have no idea how happy I am to be out of that hotel room.”

“It’s not problem at all!” Marissa said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I just figured this would be easier on you. Kody told me you’re looking for an apartment, but I don’t want you to be stressed out during your rookie season.” She turned around to grin at Louise. “We all want to see you get that Calder, and you can’t do that if you’re worried about your living arrangements.”

Louise felt warmth flood her cheeks. “Thank you,” she murmured, and she had never been more convinced that living with a veteran teammate was a good idea.

* * *

Devin quickly decided that Louise was his new favorite person.

Sometimes he would scream and cry and have huge fits when Marissa or Kody attempted to wrangle him into his highchair, big fat tears rolling down his chubby cheeks as he flailed about. Louise had taken to making faces at him over the shoulders of his parents, sticking her tongue out or puffing up her cheeks and crossing her eyes like a lunatic. Devin would usually pause for just a moment to stare at her like she was an idiot, but it was just enough of a distraction that one of his parents was able to shove him into his chair and secure him.

“You know, I can look after him for a bit if you guys want to go grab dinner or something,” Louise offered once.

She had been living with the Sinclair family for almost a month, and the air outside was cold and crisp as autumn drew to a close and winter hovered around the corner. Marissa and Kody were both amazing and always made sure to include her when they played games for their family game nights or went out places, but she could see that they were both tense and needed a break.

Marissa turned to her from where she was preparing a bottle at the kitchen counter, hair in a messy bun and dark circles under her eyes. “We can’t ask you to do that,” she said firmly. “We didn’t invite you to live here just to be a live-in babysitter, Lou.”

Kody nodded along, sluggish and also visibly tired as he bounced his babbling son on his knee from where he sat at the kitchen table while Marissa was distracted.

Louise rolled her eyes. “I know that. I promise I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to, but you both look like you need a night to yourselves. Or an afternoon, or something. I promise I can look after him for a few hours if you guys want a break.”

Marissa chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip, like she was seriously contemplating the offer. Devin was almost a year old, and as far as Louise knew he had rarely been left without one or both of his parents as neither had family in the area that they could ask to watch him if they wanted a date night or anything of the sort.

“Anyway, maybe I just want to commandeer your cute baby to play with him for a few hours. My motivations could be totally selfish and you would never know.”

Kody snorted. “I don’t think you have a selfish bone in your entire body, kid,” he chirped, but there was a fondness to his tone.

“That you know of,” Louise shot back.

Devin gurgled and let out a shriek. Kody closed his eyes briefly like he was trying to keep calm.

“Go somewhere, or at least take a freakin’ nap,” Louise urged. “Seriously, you both look stressed. Besides, Devin will be good for me, won’t you, Dev?” She cooed the last bit of her sentence, making grabby hands at the baby.

Devin let out a gleeful cry and reached his pudgy, spit-covered hands out toward her, and Kody easily relinquished hold of the baby when Louise leaned down to grab him.

Marissa stared hard at Louise as she swayed back and forth, bouncing Devin up and down in a way that made him giggle. “A nap does sound nice,” she murmured, glancing longingly at the stairs that led to their second story bedroom.

“I bet it does. You should go take one,” Louise urged, easily plucking the bottle from Marissa’s hands. She adjusted Devin so that he was almost laying down in her grasp like she had seen his parents do many times before and held the bottle to his mouth.

Kody stood. “Fuck it, it’s naptime.”

“Language,” Marissa sighed, but she was obviously too tired to really scold him like she normally would.

“Enjoy your nap,” Louise hummed as the two disappeared up the stairs.

She looked down at Devin, whose big brown eyes were fixed on her face. “Sorry, bud, Mom and Dad need a break. It’s just you and me.”

Kody and Marissa came down the stairs three hours later, sleep-rumpled but less tired, to find Louise curled up on the living room couch with Devin asleep in her arms with his head on her shoulder. The TV was on in the background, the volume low and subtitles on for one of the _Harry Potter_ movies.

Louise looked up as the Sinclairs came tiptoeing into the living room. “He’s been asleep for about half an hour,” she whispered. “I didn’t want to move in case he woke up and started crying.”

“He sleeps like shit at night but like a log for naptime,” Kody said, carefully lifting Devin from Louise’s shoulder. The baby stirred for just a moment, letting out a grumpy whine before settling against his father. Kody grinned. “I’ll go lay him down in his crib,” he murmured, heading back toward the stairs.

Marissa flopped on the couch next to Louise. “Thank you,” she said. “I haven’t had a good nap in _months_.”

“No problem,” Louise said. “I mean, it’s the least I can do since you’re letting me live here rent free.”

Marissa smiled over at her, tired but still bright and warm. “That’s what teams are for, Lou. And as long as you live here, Devin and I are on your team just as much as Kody is.”

Louise grinned back. She really loved her team.

* * *

Since they exchanged numbers at the draft, Boris would send Louise random pictures of his teammates’ cute animals and kids. Louise was finally able to send back a cute picture of Devin in response rather than a string of heart eyes and crying emojis.

_Boris  
You have baby??? :O_

_Louise  
Lmao no bud, I don’t have a baby don’t worry _😂😂 _  
This is Devin, Kody’s son. He’s cute isn’t he???_

_Boris  
Adorable))))_

She opened the text thread she had with Sean and stared for a solid five minutes before she decided against texting him. It was a little weird that she had been the one to send the last five of their texts, all on varying days, all read but unanswered.

She opened her texts with Boris again.

_Louise  
Have you heard from Sean lately?_

_Boris  
No((  
I keep text him cute animals and he does not respond_

Louise frowned down at the message.

_Louise  
You played him a week ago didn’t you?_

_Boris  
Yes. He look tired.  
His team is very rude_

She didn’t like the sound of that.

_Louise  
Rude how??_

_Boris  
Always yell at him  
One tell me go back to Russia _🙄

 _Louise  
YUCK I hate it_ 😬

_Boris  
I am worried about him  
He does not look well_

_Louise  
We play the Stars next week I think  
I’ll try to talk to him then_

_Boris  
Good luck)))_

* * *

When they faced off against the Stars, she sought out Sean Pelletier during warmups.

“Hey,” she said, gliding up to Sean where he stretched by the center line.

He looked up from where he was stretching on the ice, climbing quickly to his feet to greet her. “Hi,” he returned, and Louise beamed.

“It’s been a while.”

Sean grimaced. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m not very good at texting and keeping up with people.”

Louise nodded understandingly, but something felt off. She and Sean weren’t friends, not really, anyway. They had exchanged numbers at the draft between the three of them that went first, and though they had texted a little throughout the summer texts from Sean had pretty much come to a screeching halt.

Boris still texted Louise all the time. Pictures of his teammates’ dogs and cats or their children doing something cute. For as tall as he was, Boris was like a large excitable child, and his entire team had pretty much adopted him as far as Louise could tell.

“It’s cool,” she said with an easy smile. “I get it. It’s not like we even see each other.”

The Leafs and the Stars were in different divisions and therefore only played each other twice a year. It was early December when they were finally facing off against one another for the first time in Dallas.

“How’s the team treating you?” Sean asked.

His entire body was stiff and his stance was trying too hard to be casual. Louise didn’t like that he looked like he’d been cornered and was just waiting for the opportunity to run.

“They’re great,” she hesitantly replied. “You?”

“Good, good.”

Remembering her conversation with Boris, Louise quirked an unimpressed eyebrow.

Sean’s smile stayed in place, but his words were flat when he quietly said, “Okay, so, kind of terrible, actually. Some of them are… not very nice guys.”

Louise tried not to visibly react. “Oh? That’s not concerning at all,” she said sarcastically.

“Hey, Sean!” one of the Stars yelled. Nathan Hawke was a defenseman that wore what looked like a permanent scowl across his face, and his eyes were the kind of cold, icy blue that authors often described their novel protagonists to have. He had a bit of a reputation in the NHL for landing hard, barely legal hits and starting fights for whatever reason suited him.

Sean continued to smile pleasantly. It had a hysteric edge to it, one that spoke of stress and worry. “I’m not saying this to sound threatening, but… please be careful out there.”

“Pelletier!” Nathan called again, sounding like he was close to losing his temper. The captain of the Stars had joined Nathan and stood right beside him, looking just as grumpy.

“Thank you for the heads up,” Louise said. She could feel the way her shoulders tensed up like she was about to be attacked, half from the ominous warning and half from Nathan looking like he was about to start a fight. “You better go. He sounds angry.”

“He’s _always_ angry,” he said, rolling his eyes. Louise noticed for the first time a tightness around the corners of his smile, his shoulders drawn up and tight in a mirror of how her own body felt. “See ya around.”

Louise waved after him, her stomach churning nervously. Nathan laid into Sean as soon as he was within distance, grabbing the rookie and pulling him close while he talked through gritted teeth while their captain just watched on. She was pretty sure she heard the words _the fuck you think you’re doing_ and a few insults thrown in Nathan’s hushed rant.

Louise sent a quick thank you to the hockey gods for not letting her get drafted to the Stars.

She went through the rest of warmups feeling off, and it took a hard elbow from Drew on the way back to the locker room after to snap her out of it.

“What’s bothering you?” he asked quietly. Drew Lewis was a fellow rookie and had just made the team that season after spending two years in the AHL for the Hershey Bears. He’d been traded that past summer to the Leafs and made the team right out of training camp with Louise, and since they were both in a new city and didn’t know anyone on their new team, they had gravitated toward each other.

It was a bit of a shock to her that they had only known each other for a few months and already Drew could tell when something wasn’t right with Louise. Maybe spending so much time in close proximity had that effect on people.

“Nothing,” she reassured. “Just nervous, is all.”

Drew frowned. “Nervous? Why?”

She didn’t want to worry him over Sean’s cryptic warning, or her unease about his odd behavior. She had to come up with a believable lie on the spot. “Press. I just know they’re gonna be comparing me and Sean after this over who’s getting the Calder.”

It was a safe excuse. She and Sean were both playing well so far, so they were both pretty much evenly tied when arguments rose over who deserved to be Rookie of the Year.

Drew pursed his lips like he didn’t quite believe her, but didn’t call her out for lying, which Louise greatly appreciated.

The game itself was rough. Louise had never been checked so many times in one period, and she was receiving the most hits out of anyone else on the team. It didn’t take her long to feel like she was probably being targeted, and the rest of the Leafs were picking up on that, too.

She could feel the energy on the ice change as things got more chippy. There weren’t any fights, but scrums were escalating and becoming longer with each whistle.

The Leafs went down the tunnel after the first period and Louise did her best to keep her nervously beating heart in check. Her ribs ached with discomfort, but she’d had bruised and broken ribs before so there was nothing to worry about quite yet.

The second period passed by in much the same way. Kody got into a fight with one of the Stars after a particularly nasty hit had Louise seeing stars, and the resulting major penalty had both Kody and his fighting partner thrown out for the remainder of the period. In the last five minutes of the period Louise was crunched into the boards again but this time the guy that hit her was called for the delayed hit, so even though her body ached she felt a sort of satisfaction to see the man sit in the penalty box.

Louise wasn’t quite sure how she ended up in Nathan’s crosshairs during the third period. He had mostly been picking on Marlen, but the Leafs’ captain could land hits as hard as he got. Louise must have made a much more appealing target because she was a rookie and smaller than everyone else on her team, and she was _way_ smaller when compared to all six feet and four inches of Nathan Hawke.

If Louise so much as touched the puck for a second he was on her, trying to drive her roughly into the boards. She was able to avoid his checks simply by being faster most of the time, but he finally managed to follow through on a check that had her head smacking off the glass.

She saw stars as she went down, and then there were skates all around her as her teammates leaped to her defense. She could hear Kody yelling obscenities as her other linemate, Lars, was calling out to Louise to ask her if she was alright.

Louise did her best to sit up, but it was hard with so many legs and skates and knees that could easily hit her face at any moment. All she could do was curl up with her arms in front of her face as she waited for the danger to pass.

A hand seized the shoulder of her jersey and pulled. Louise slid across the ice on her side until she was out of the scrum, and then that very same hand released her jersey only to slide under her arm instead.

“Can you stand?” came Sean’s voice.

She took a moment to think about it. She felt rattled and her ribs still hurt, but she didn’t feel like she was in any serious pain. “Yeah, just help me up,” she said, and he obliged.

“Do you need to get to your bench?”

Louise looked over to where her team was sitting (well, not sitting—standing and yelling angrily, but gathered in a neat little line), and she could see the trainer already trying to make his way onto the ice.

She let out a sigh. “Probably. I don’t think I’m hurt but I did hit my head.”

Sean grimaced. “They’ll want to check that.”

“I know,” Louise groaned.

She stared off toward the bench, Sean gliding a bit behind her as the last of the scrum was broken up.

“Pelletier!”

Both Louise and Sean turned at the angry shout, and Nathan was staring directly at them even as one of the refs was trying to shove him off toward the penalty box.

“Get your ass back to the bench!”

Louise stared at Nathan with obvious disbelief. “He really thinks he can talk to you like that?”

Sean’s mouth twisted into a rueful smile. “I’m his rookie.”

She stared at him next, dumbstruck by such a poor excuse. “Dude, that’s still not okay. It’s _really_ not okay if the rest of your team lets him get away with it, and your _coaches_ —”

“The trainer looks worried, you should probably get your head checked out,” Sean interrupted. “Hope you feel better.”

“ _Sean_ ,” she tried, but he had already turned around and skated away.

The Maple Leafs lost quite spectacularly, falling 6-1 to the Stars. Louise missed the rest of the game getting checked for a concussion, and when she was finally given a clean bill of health and allowed to return to the locker room with firm instructions to take it easy, the rest of the team was getting out of their sweaty gear.

Marlen noticed her first. “You okay?” he asked.

“No concussion,” she reported. “I’m fine.”

Physically, she _was_ fine, if just a little sore. Mentally, though, her thoughts were a jumbled mess of questions and concerns.

Her captain frowned like he didn’t quite believe her. “You tell me if you aren’t, yes?”

“I’m fine,” she repeated. “Honest.”

Marlen’s frown deepened, but he let it go, and Louise only felt a little bad for lying.

* * *

Louise didn’t care that they hadn’t texted in a couple of months. She didn’t hesitate to pull up their old chat thread and shoot off a text.

_Hey Sean. I’m sorry to keep pushing the subject, but it’s not cool what Nathan is doing, and it’s not cool that everyone is letting him talk to you like that either. There has to be some place you can report that._

Sean replied two days later, short and to the point.

_It’s not worth it. I just want to play hockey._

Louise didn’t hesitate to respond as soon as she saw the message.

_You shouldn’t have to play hockey in an environment that isn’t supportive of you._

He didn’t respond, but when Louise checked back later, there was the timestamp at the bottom of the message to let her know it had been seen.

* * *

Seattle wasn’t having a great season, and Louise said as much when she FaceTimed her brother a few days later.

“Last I checked _you_ aren’t in a playoff spot right now, either,” Landon huffed, then, “Ow!”

Louise snickered when she heard the smack followed by Nadia’s shrill, “Don’t be mean to her!”

Of course, Louise knew she could count on Landon’s fiancée to have her back. “What she said!”

“She was mean first!” Landon protested.

“And you’re supposed to be a mature, grown-ass man,” came Nadia’s muffled voice.

“I have said this before and I will say it forever,” Louise said, “but I really love Nadia.”

Landon grumbled. “You suck. Both of you.”

Nadia and Louise both laughed. “I’ll let you two talk,” Nadia said afterwards. “Bye, Lou!”

“Bye!”

There was a bit of shuffling, and then Landon was staring sternly at her through his phone.

“I know you didn’t call me just to discuss our playoff standings.”

“Maybe I did.”

“You didn’t. You always text to make sure I’m not busy before you call, and this time you didn’t.”

“You’re right, I didn’t.”

Landon sat up straighter where he was sitting on his couch. “Exactly. So what’s bugging you?”

Louise chewed nervously on her thumbnail, a nervous habit she had picked up as a kid and had yet to let go. “When you were a rookie, were you treated, like, nicely?”

“Yeah, the guys were great,” Landon said, and then a stormy expression fell over his features. “Why? Are the Leafs—”

“No, no, I love them and they’re great,” Louise quickly reassured her brother. “I couldn’t ask for better.”

Landon’s face visibly relaxed. “Good. But why are you asking?”

“I’m worried about a rookie on another team.”

“Who is it?”

Louise hesitated. “I can’t tell you.”

“Fine. What team do they play for?”

“I can’t tell you that, either.”

Landon huffed out an annoyed breath. “ _Lou_.”

“I’m not on some mission to dismantle the whole team—I mean, I’ve thought about it, but would that do him any good? And, honestly, could I? Probably not. And I really don’t want to make things worse for him. I don’t even know if it’s as bad as I think it is, but something is definitely not right. I want to get him out of that situation, but where do you go when your entire team and even the staff know you’re being treated badly and don’t want to do anything about it?”

“Are you sure he’s actually being treated poorly and not just making a big deal out nothing?”

Louise had never felt so betrayed. “First of all, I’ve heard some of what they’ve said firsthand. Second, how can you _say_ that?”

Landon threw his free hand up in surrender. “It’s a reasonable question! I find it kind of hard to believe that his entire team is in the know and doing _nothing_ about it.”

“Well, they _are_ ,” Louise snapped. “They let Nathan talk to him however he wants, and no one says anything from what I’ve seen.”

“Nathan?” Landon parroted back. “As in Nathan Hawke? Resident jackass of the NHL currently playing for the Stars?”

Louise kind of wanted to slam her head into a wall for letting his name slip, especially since she saw the moment Landon connected the dots in his head. “There’s more than one Nathan in the world, dude.”

“Not more than one infamous Nathan in the NHL, though,” Landon pointed out smugly. “And the only rookie on that team is Sean Pelletier.”

There was no point in lying. “Yeah. He looks miserable.”

“I honestly don’t know what to tell you, Lou,” Landon said after a moment. “He could go to someone higher up then even the coaches, like the GM or something, or play so bad he gets sent down to the A.”

“We don’t know if the GM knows about it, though, and if he gets sent to the AHL he can just as easily be called back up.”

“I don’t know,” Landon said again. “I really don’t. Maybe he can request a trade?”

Louise snorted. “Yeah, I can see _that_ going over well.”

“Well, maybe you had the right idea. Expose the team. Call it hazing or something.”

“I can’t do that without proof.”

“Two words, Lou: get some.”

Louise made a disgusted face. “Never say those words to me again.”

“You’re right, they sounded wrong,” Landon agreed, grimacing. “But the intention is the same. Get proof.”

“How?”

“Well, did you witness anything sketchy happen?”

“Yeah, Nathan is shitty to him pretty openly.”

“Ask to do some kind of mic’d up thing next time you play them. Your PR team will love it, and you can get some of that stuff recorded. Boom. Proof.”

It wasn’t a bad idea, and honestly it was all she could really do with the given circumstances. “You know, Landon, you’re smarter that I give you credit for.”

“Shut up and say thank you.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now go out there and commit espionage.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> espionage time y'all!
> 
> i think this could potentially be the second to last chapter but louise isn't done yet so we'll see. enjoy!

They weren’t playing the Stars again until mid-January, so Louise took her time to plot.

She figured it would be fairly easy to rile Nathan up. He was known in the NHL for having an explosive temper, so all Louise had to do was make sure she was in the middle of everything when he inevitably yelled abuse at Sean.

She pitched the idea to their PR guy Brandon right before the Christmas break. “We should do a mic’d up thing,” she said as casually as she could. “I used to love watching those.”

“Oh?” He appraised her, suspicious. Louise would rather not touch anything PR related with a ten-foot pole, and Brandon knew that, but she tried to look really enthusiastic as she nodded eagerly.

“Yeah! Hearing my favorite players in action, listening to what they were saying, that was pretty cool. I think the last woman to be mic’d up was Jocelyn Bard, like, four years ago. We should do one!” She made her eyes wide like she had just had a brilliant idea. “Oh, we should do one when we play the Stars! The first and third pick, battling it out! Exciting stuff, yeah?”

Somehow, she got Brandon to agree, and Louise wondered if she should have pursued a career in acting instead of hockey.

* * *

When she did some digging, Louise found that the Stars roster was undergoing a lot of change almost constantly. With the exception of their captain and a few guys on their starting line, the lineup changed with each passing season in ways that were almost drastic. In the last few years, most players that were traded to or signed with the team only lasted two or three seasons.

She called Landon with this discovery. “They trade a bunch of people every year,” she said. “Like, their young guys especially. What kind of team-building model is that?”

“It’s not, really,” Landon replied. “Were these people traded because they requested trades? Were their contracts up? Were they just not fitting in with the team?” He sighed. “I’m sure the Stars aren’t the only team like that.”

“I don’t know.” Louise frowned down at her phone while scrolling through one of the ten tabs she had open. “Everyone they trade away was doing kind of bad on the Stars, but almost every single player they traded away ended up doing better on their next team. More goals, more points, all that.”

“Like who?”

Louise set her phone aside and pulled her notebook into her lap. She’d been taking notes like a real detective. Clearly, she really was in the wrong career path. “Alan Hudson went from 7 goals and 15 assists with the Stars to 15 goals and 31 assists the season after he was traded to the Knights. Francois Bernier, 1 goal, 5 assists with the Stars, 9 goals and 18 assists with the Canucks the following season. I could go on, but this trend is kind of crazy. All of these players are, like, super young, too.”

“Maybe you should try reaching out to them,” Landon offered. “I know for a fact that Huds is very active on Instagram.”

Louise was already opening the app and searching for Alan Hudson’s profile. “Cool, thanks.”

“No problem. Let me know how it goes, okay?”

“Okay,” Louise hummed, and then hung up once they said their goodbyes.

She decided that, while sending a DM on Instagram didn’t promise a response, it was really the best she could do.

_Hi! Congrats on your season so far, I see you’re doing really well with the Knights._

A response came in a couple of hours later, just as Louise was helping Melissa clear the table after dinner.

_Hey thanks! Same to you_

Louise typed out a quick response, wanting to catch him before he went offline.

_Thanks! Do you mind if I ask you some quick questions?_

_About what?_

_It’s about your time with the Stars._

_Sure._

_Someone I know plays for them right now and he’s said some things. Did they treat you or other players badly while you were on the team?_

She didn’t receive a response until morning.

_I can’t really talk about it_

Louise frowned. _Why not?_

_No one wants to be that guy that complains. If teams think you’re too difficult to deal with, you’re done for. It’s happened tons of times in the past, and I don’t want to be that guy._

_So what I’m getting is that there’s definitely something going on in the Stars locker room._

_I don’t know how it is now, but your friend can tell you more than I can. And also tell him he’s stupid, because if it gets back to people that he’s been spreading shit, his career is over._

_They’d really end his career over talking to me about shitty things they do in the locker room?_

_I think you already know the answer to that. The coaching staff there will do whatever it takes to keep their jobs.  
_

Louise's thumbs hovered over her screen, not quite sure how to respond. She saw that Alan was typing again.

_I don't know what you're involved with but be careful. They have no problem turning on their own team so they won't hesitate to turn on you, too._

"What's wrong, Lou?"

Louise looked up from her phone. "Huh?"

Kody drifted closer, tapping the space between her eyebrows as she tried to discreetly turn her phone screen away. "You're squinting real hard at your phone," he said.

"Oh, yeah," Louise blurted, trying to think of a lie on the spot. "I'm not wearing my contacts so it's hard to read Drew's texts."

Kody hummed. "I didn't know you wore contacts."

Louise did not actually wear contacts. "The more ya know," she offered with a shrug and an easy smile.

When he walked away to wash the dishes while Melissa dealt with the baby. Louise shoved her phone into her back pocket, trying to push aside the nervous tightening in her chest.

* * *

Louise didn't know if she had ever felt so nervous before. There was a lot riding on this game, after all. 

They took to the ice for warmups, and as soon as she was able, she made her way toward the center of the ice where she normally stretched.

“Sean!” Louise called out, waving toward him enthusiastically when he looked up.

Nathan had also looked up, though, and he scowled in her direction. He barked something at the Stars’ rookie that Louise couldn’t quite hear, but Sean came over to her anyway.

“Hey,” he said cautiously. “Sorry I never got back to you. I’ve been busy.”

“That’s cool,” Louise said brightly, going about her normal stretching routine as he just stood there as uncomfortable as always. She wondered what had happened to the calm, confident boy from the draft. What kind of words did it take to make him look so small and nervous? “We’re all busy during this time in the season, so I get it. How are you?”

“I’m good,” he said. “Hey, listen, if we’re gonna do small-talk, can we do this later? Right now isn’t really a good time.”

“Stretch,” Louise suggested. “Multitask, my dude. We’re just two rookies catchin’ up.”

Sean hesitated for just a moment but did as she suggested, plopping down on the ice beside her to mirror the frog stretch she was doing.

Nathan looked absolutely enraged, and he shuffled over to the Stars’ captain to say something. Both men looked over and Sean and Louise in the same way one might look at shit on the bottom of a shoe.

“So really,” Louise pressed. “How are you?”

Sean sighed. “There are good days and bad days.”

“Bad days how?”

“Just… I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like I can’t do anything right.”

“Do they tell you that?”

Sean snorted. “Oh yeah, all the time. I can’t think of a practice that hasn’t ended in bag skates for me since I got here, and if I screw up during a game I get bumped down to the third or fourth line.”

Louise latched onto the first part of his explanation. “What do they say to you?”

“Petty shit. Oh, can’t believe we wasted a first over-all pick on someone who can’t even score, you’re such a fuck-up, one more penalty and you’ll be benched for the rest of the season, blah blah blah.”

“And they only do that stuff to you? They don’t say things to other people on your team?”

“I mean, they probably have in the past. I’m just the target of choice right now, I think.” He trailed off and eyed her suspiciously. “I feel a little like I’m being interrogated.”

Louise stared right back. “Then don’t answer me. I’m just worried, is all.”

“Why?” Sean asked bitterly. “We’re not friends or anything.”

“No,” Louise agreed. “We aren’t yet, but we also haven’t really had the chance to be. I think we could be great friends, Sean. And I can be concerned as a fellow player, or, you know, a _decent human being_.”

Sean shook his head and moved to his knees like he was about to get up. “That’s really nice of you, but it’s better if we’re not friends. I’m already gonna get chewed out as it is for even _talking_ to you.”

Louise’s hand shot out and gripped his arm before he could escape. “Is that why you stopped responding to me and Boris when we texted you? Because they told you not to?”

His face was all the answer she needed. “Please drop it, Louise.”

She shook her head. “That isn't right.”

As if sensing she was trying to weasel her way in some kind of shenanigans, Nathan skated up to where they were still squatting on the ice. “Get up,” he ordered, staring down at Sean. “Cap wants you to take a few shots since you couldn’t seem to get your shit together this morning and you’re over here socializing instead.”

Louise was caught between whether she should be feeling irritated or victorious. This man was almost going right along with her plan like he was in on it.

“Sorry,” Sean said in an easy, flat tone, climbing to his feet as Louise withdrew her hand. “See ya around, Louise.”

“Okay,” Louise responded cheerfully as she, too, got to her feet. “We should hang out after and get pizza or something! We haven’t really talked since the draft.”

“He can’t,” Nathan snapped.

“I didn’t realize your name was _also_ Sean,” Louise gasped. “Sorry, I’ll specify next time if it’s that hard for you to understand that I wasn’t asking for your input, _Nathan_.”

“Sure,” Sean interrupted, obviously trying to mediate the situation as Nathan all but glowered like he was ready attack. “I’ll, uh, wait for you after.”

Nathan rounded on him, completely ignoring Louise. “ _You can’t_ ,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

Maybe Sean forgot to be intimidated for a moment, or maybe he just didn’t like that his teammate was acting like an asshole in front of someone from the other team, but he stood his ground rather than relenting. “Pizza won’t kill me, and it’s better than going out and getting shitfaced like most of you guys do after games.”

Nathan’s face was downright _murderous_. He opened his mouth like he was about to lay into Sean, but he must have remembered that they had an audience because his mouth shut with an audible click. Taking a deep, calm breath, he tried, “If you’re late for practice tomorrow—”

“I won’t be,” Sean calmly interrupted, and then turned to Louise. “I’ll see ya. Have a good game.”

Louise beamed. “You too.”

Nathan shot her a dirty look the moment Sean skated away, and Louise’s smile grew. “You always talk that way to your teammates?”

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re trying to do,” he said. “But you had better stop.”

“I have _no idea_ what you’re talking about,” Louise gasped dramatically. “Why? You got something to hide? Afraid Sean will tell a friend how you guys treat him like shit?”

His eyes narrowed dangerously. “He’s just some punk-ass kid who doesn’t know how to adapt to not being the best player in the room, and it’s up to our team to make him realize that. Don’t go around getting involved in shit that has nothing to do with you.”

“Or what?” Louise asked boldly, holding her chin up high. “You might scare him because he has to deal with you every day, but you sure as hell don’t scare _me_.”

Nathan snorted. “You’re just the same, eh? Another rookie who thinks they know everything and can’t keep their damn mouth shut.”

“Oh I _definitely_ don’t know everything,” Louise said, “But I know enough to know that you’re doing something really wrong, and that’s all that really matters.”

“You don’t know _shit_ , kid,” Nathan snapped.

“Louise is fine, thanks,” she said. “My name isn’t kid.”

He rolled his eyes. “I guess your captain hasn’t made it clear that people like _you_ shouldn’t talk back to people like _us_.”

Louise bared her teeth in a sharp smile. “What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”

“Rookies talking back to veterans, some little girl talking back to men. Take your pick.”

She was so, _so_ grateful that she was mic'd up. “So it's not enough for you to bully a rookie, you're also sexist! That’s nice.”

Marlen appeared at her side just then, smiling pleasantly. “Hello, Nate!” To Louise, he asked very seriously, “We have problem here?”

“No problem,” Louise said. “In fact, Nathan was just leaving.”

Nathan stared her down like he was just barely resisting the urge to tear her to shreds.

_Come at me_ , she silently dared. _I’m ready this time._

* * *

Turns out, Nathan didn’t even need the silent invitation to try making Louise suffer throughout the entire game. In fact, he must have said something to others on his team, since half the Stars looked at Louise like they were out to make her life absolutely miserable.

“Ouch, fuck,” Louise gasped as she picked herself up off the ice for what was probably the fourth or fifth time in the first period alone. She was no stranger to hard hits and checks, but she didn't usually receive them in such volume.

The Stars’ captain Drake Merrifield was already skating away toward the puck that had bounced free from her stick, but he wasn’t a fast guy. Kody was right on his tail, and he beat their opponent to the puck just in time to take a sharp turn and dart back in the other direction.

Louise was on her feet by that point, and she skated up the wing to add her support. A flash of green to her right caught her eye, and she glanced over her shoulder to find that Sean was right there waiting to cover her.

She hit the brakes hard, sending snow spraying, and Kody dropped the pass to her as Sean over skated. He turned around to skate backwards and she went to move forward just as his eyes widened in a way that was almost comical.

Sean’s change in expression was the only warning she had before someone was ramming into her from behind. Her skates left the ground as she lurched forward and tumbled toward the ice. The breath rushed out of her lungs as she landed and when she looked up, she watched as the puck slid away from her.

Louise had less than a second to wonder why whoever had hit her wasn’t racing after it before a stick was digging into her shoulders so she couldn’t get up, pinning her chest to the ice as she let out a startled shout of surprise.

“No one will believe you,” Drake hissed as he leaned down close. “Mind your own fucking business.”

“Hey!” Marlen shouted in time with the referee’s whistle, and the pressure that had been weighing Louise down was suddenly gone as the giant Russian shoved Drake off her.

“You try to pick fight?” she heard Marlen demand just as Kody appeared at her side. “Then _fight me_!”

Kody leaned down as Louise pushed herself up on her hands and knees, and whatever he said was drowned out in the screams of the crowd. She looked over her shoulder to find that Marlen and Drake had both dropped the gloves and were skating in slow circles, sizing each other up.

Kody nudged her shoulder, drawing her attention back to his concerned face. “You alright?” he asked.

Louise clambered to her feet. “Yeah,” she lied. Truthfully, she felt a little rattled. She hadn’t imagined trying to expose the Stars for being toxic assholes to their rookie would put an actual target on her back. She had been prepared for some shit-talking and more hits than usual, but being targeted that extremely hadn’t been part of the plan.

Sean skated close, hovering a few feet away like he was scared Kody might challenge him to the same kind of fight their captains were having at center ice. Kody glared, but Louise nudged him out of her way as she skated closer to Sean.

“I’m fine,” she told Sean without being asked. “Your captain is not my biggest fan, though.”

Sean’s mouth twisted unpleasantly. “Could have told you that,” he muttered. “He goes on endlessly about women in the league messing up how things used to be when he watched hockey as a kid.”

At center ice, Marlen and Drake were pulled apart from each other. Marlen was taller and heavier than Drake, and he had clearly used that to his advantage as he skated away seemingly without injury toward the penalty box while Drake was led toward the bench with a split lip.

Kody put himself back in her space, still eyeing Sean warily. “The spotter is waving at us,” he told Louise. “He probably wants to check your head.”

Louise huffed. “I didn’t even _hit_ my head,” she muttered.

Kody shrugged, his entire body taut with irritation. “It was kind of hard to tell with Drake basically on top of you.”

And, well, that was true enough. Kody shooed her off toward the bench as the ref announced at center that Marlen and Drake were receiving fighting majors and the Leafs were on a powerplay because of an extra roughing minor tacked onto the Stars.

Louise wasn’t around to see the powerplay because she was ushered down the tunnels, but when she was given the all-clear it was intermission and the guys were charged up from being in the lead by 1-0.

Marlen confronted Louise the moment he saw her. “Okay,” he said calmly, a dark bruise looking like a smudge across his cheekbone. “You tell me now what happen.”

Louise tried to play dumb and confused. “Nothing?”

Marlen didn’t react, looking completely unimpressed. “Try again.”

Louise sighed. “I promise to tell you after this game,” she swore. “But I can’t right now. I need you to trust me.”

There was one very big difference between Sean and Louise, and it was in the support they received. She knew that if she were in Sean’s place in the Stars locker room, she wouldn’t be able to ask for such a thing from anyone on the team, much less the captain.

And maybe the NHL had men in it that were awful and deplorable in so many ways, but there were some good guys out there, too, and there was _at least_ one on the Leafs, and he stood before her at that moment.

Marlen didn’t even hesitate to nod and take her for her word. “Okay,” he agreed. “But you talk after.”

Louise felt warm all over, and it hit her all over again just how lucky she was. 

* * *

Louise was very thankful to be on the first line. She often spent a lot of time bouncing back and forth between the first and the second, but being on the first line against the Stars meant that she was almost always on the ice with Sean and that was exactly what she needed.

She played the game like she would any other, but she made a point of putting herself in Sean’s space whenever there was a stoppage of play. Nathan Hawke and Drake Merrifield stared her down like she was shit on the bottom of their shoe, but they never said anything to her.

Some of the Stars made snide comments as they slammed her into the boards or on the wings of a faceoff, and Louise didn’t say anything in return. She didn’t have a hair-trigger temper that required instant gratification; she had something better than a witty comeback up her sleeve, after all.

It helped a little that she scored a goal. Louise found that scoring also made her feel better, too.

The Leafs pulled off a win, but just barely with a final score of 4-3. Louise looked across the ice at the Stars bench as the rest of her team lined up to show their goalie some appreciation.

Sean was looking back at her and nodded once before Nathan was there, shoving him down the tunnel. He glared back at Louise, and she grinned before getting in line to hug her awesome goalie.

When she took off down the tunnel, some of the boys were already in the process of preparing for the showers. Marlen stopped her before she even made it to her stall.

“Explanation,” he ordered.

“It’s kind of a long story.”

He crossed his arms over the maple leaf on his chest. “Better start telling me, then,” he said, and Louise did.

* * *

Sean was waiting for her outside the visitor’s locker room once she was done showering. Marlen trailed behind Louise, also dressed in his suit.

“Hey there,” she said, adjusting the lapels of her blazer.

“Hey,” Sean replied, eyeing Marlen warily. “We still on for pizza?”

“Totally,” she said. “But I have to ask you something first.”

He shifted on his feet uncomfortably. “Go for it.”

“If you could go to another team, would you?”

Sean stared at Marlen first, and then her. Louise could see that he was about to close in on himself and say nothing, so she went on. “Marlen is the only one who knows. He’s our backup in case things go south.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Sean demanded.

“Answer my question first, Sean,” Louise pressed. “If you could go to another team, would you or wouldn’t you?”

He glanced at Marlen, who had still yet to speak. “I would,” Sean said without any hesitation.

“Really? You’re absolutely certain?”

“Yeah,” Sean said, and he laughed in a way that was almost hysterical. “It’s awful in there, Louise. I didn’t think going first would land me on a team that bullies you for _every little mistake_ , and—”

That was all she really needed to hear. “I can get you out of there,” Louise interrupted.

“Funny,” he snorted.

“She is serious,” Marlen spoke for the first time.

Louise nodded along. “Very. I was mic’d up tonight.”

Sean’s eyes widened almost comically. “I— _you were_?”

“Yeah.” She ran a nervous hand through her hair. “Even during warmups.”

Sean’s breath left him in one big _whoosh_. “Oh.”

Louise sincerely hoped that it was a regular old _oh_ and not an _oh fuck_ oh. “It was supposed to be a fun mic’d up thing. That’s what I told PR, anyway, but I might have lied.”

“Oh, really?” Sean asked sarcastically.

“Just a little.” Louise smiled nervously, hoping that he wouldn’t be mad. “I told Brandon—our PR guy—that he couldn’t use the recording. I needed it as evidence, and as insurance.”

“Are you—are you going to try to _blackmail_ the Stars into trading me?”

Marlen waved a dismissive hand. “Blackmail is ugly word.”

“It’s the right word, though,” Sean persisted.

“Blackmail is bad thing. Lou is—how you say?” Marlen looked imploringly at Louise.

“I’m simply incentivizing your team into trading you,” Louise elaborated.

Marlen nodded along in agreement. “Yes, that. That is good thing, yes?”

Sean hesitated. “If that recording gets out, would another team even _want_ me? I’ve never felt so useless and weak in my entire life, and I don’t want others to think—”

“That recording will never see the light of day if you don’t want it to,” Louise promised. “It’s just to make your management listen to me. But, Sean, _no one_ is going to think you’re useless or weak. We’re just _kids_ , dude. We’re eighteen and we’ve never played in the NHL before this season. We’re going to make mistakes, and the Stars aren’t letting you learn from yours. You’re just someone they can boss around because you’re young and new and they think you can’t do anything about it.”

Sean’s face was becoming red, and Louise could almost swear his eyes were becoming glassy. “I don’t want to be here anymore,” he murmured in a small voice. “I don’t—I don’t want to _feel like this_ anymore.”

Louise nodded. “Then let me get you out of here, man.”

“Okay,” Sean said on a shaky inhale.

Louise linked her arm through his. “Well, back to the lion’s den. I need to speak with your coach.”

Marlen grinned. “Think Drake will be there?” he asked cheekily. “Really want to make sure his face okay.”

* * *

Drake Merrifield was indeed still present.

“What the fuck is going on here, Sean?” he demanded when the Stars rookie came through the door arm-in-arm with Louise, Marlen looming over their shoulders like an intimidating bodyguard.

The locker room was mostly empty, save for a few players that had been pulled for media hanging around as they finished dressing. They all looked up at their captain’s angry exclamation.

“Hello to you too,” Louise greeted. “I need to speak with your coach, please.”

“You shouldn’t even _be_ in here,” Nathan growled out. “The locker room is no place for some _girl_ —"

“She ask nicely first time,” Marlen interrupted. “Where is your coach?”

“Why do you even need to see him?” Drake demanded. His bottom lip was swollen and had a cut courtesy of Marlen when he sneered.

“Oh, there are _many_ reasons,” Louise said, and she grinned because _oh boy_ was she ready to list them off one by one. “Do you want each one alphabetically or in the order that they happened?”

The Stars head coach Bob Presley entered the room from a side hall that must have led to the trainers or some other personnel. He did a double take when he saw a couple of Leafs hanging around, and his angry gaze landed squarely on Sean.

“What are you doing in here?” he demanded.

“We need to talk,” Louise said.

Bob snorted. “What could we possibly have to talk about, kid?”

“ _Louise_ ,” she emphasized. “My name is Louise, _not_ kid. I know your team seems incapable of mutual respect, but I’d _really_ appreciate it if some of you would use it.”

“Well, _Louise_ ,” Bob stressed sarcastically, “What do we have to talk about?”

“You’re going to make a couple of important calls and insist to everyone that has anything to do with your roster that Sean needs to be traded immediately.”

The locker room was dead silent, and then filled with laughter as Bob and his remaining players comprehended what she was demanding.

“And why would we trade our number one draft pick, _Louise_?” Drake asked sarcastically.

“I was mic’d up tonight,” Louise said, and she paused for dramatic effect. She loved that she could probably hear a pin drop from how quiet the room got. “Oh, you all _know_ that I got some incriminating shit. That’s good, it’ll make things easier.”

“She wasn’t mic’d,” Nathan finally said. “She’s lying.”

“I can call our PR guy,” Louise offered. “He’s got the audio. I’m more than happy to let him post it.”

“That’s not necessary,” Bob said nervously.

“It _might_ not be necessary,” Louise agreed, and, well, maybe she _was_ blackmailing an NHL team. She probably shouldn’t feel so smug about it. “Or maybe it will be. Sean wants out. Trade him.”

“Not happening,” Bob said immediately.

“Your team treat him like shit,” Marlen spoke up for the first time. “It is like hazing. You know where NHL stand on hazing, _Coach_?”

“I do,” Bob replied uneasily. “It’s not that easy. How would it look if we trade our number one draft pick without warning in his first season?”

“I don’t care how it looks, honestly,” Louise said. “Does that look worse than that recording would? There’s some pretty incriminating stuff on there, Coach. Threats, sexist speech, et cetera. At this point you just need to decide which shitty thing looks _worst_.”

“You _bitch_ ,” Drake hissed.

Marlen visibly bristled like he was ready to start another fight. “Round two?” he snarled. “Unlike you, I look after rookie. _Don’t_ call her that again.”

Bob waved both Marlen and Drake off, his eyes narrowed intently at Louise. “Is that it?”

“Maybe. Are you going to trade him or not?”

Bob was visibly grinding his teeth. “Does it matter where?”

Louise looked at Sean, who shook his head. “Anywhere you want, just as long as he’s not staying here.”

“How do I know you won’t release the recording anyway?” Bob asked after a moment.

Louise shrugged. “You don’t, but I won’t. If you keep your end of the bargain, I’ll keep mine.”

Bob scowled. “You’re one scary girl, you know that?”

She grinned. “I’m glad you seem to think so. Make damn sure you remember it.”

* * *

The trade went through the next morning, and everyone was baffled to see the number one draft pick Sean Pelletier go to Seattle, of all places, in exchange for a second and third round pick in the 2042 draft.

Honestly, Louise couldn’t think of anywhere better for him to go.

_Take care of him_ , she texted Landon when the news was announced. _I hear one of his friends is kinda psycho and doesn’t like people messing with Sean._

_Oh yeah I know exactly which friend you’re talking about,_ Landon texted back. _She’s def psycho. Probably drives her older brothers crazy._ Then, a moment later, _Don't worry, I'll help him out when he gets here._

_< 3_, she sent back.

Louise went to put her phone down, but it buzzed again. She expected to see a response from her brother, but a number that hadn’t texted her in a while popped up instead.

_Sean  
Thank you_.

_Louise  
I’d say anytime but I think my blackmail days are over lol. Good luck in Seattle, and don’t be a stranger!_

_Sean  
:)_

And for a minute all was right in the world.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hello i'm back!
> 
> sorry it's been a while, but i can happily report that i'm now a little hotter by one whole (bs) degree and currently working on a second one because apparently i like to be in debt to the education system :)
> 
> anyway, here's the last chapter of this story! thanks for coming along for the ride and being patient with me. i hope you all enjoy!

Louise knew she should move forward and forget the whole thing.

She was very satisfied with the outcome of her plot. Sean was in Seattle and the Stars were very, very far from him. She knew that Landon would take care of him, and he certainly wouldn’t stand idly by if anyone else in Seattle started giving him shit. 

Just because her friend was safe didn’t mean that Louise was through with the Dallas Stars, though.

Sean, Louise, and Boris were all very active in their group chat, much to Boris’s equal confusion and delight. After months of seemingly dropping out of contact with everyone, having Sean suddenly respond to messages in a timely and eager manner was unexpected but very welcome, and the three of them continued on as if nothing had ever happened. They didn’t talk about hockey in their chat, a strict rule that kept everything civil. This very rule made it so that Boris never asked what happened to get Sean traded half-way across the country, but that didn’t stop Louise from texting Sean by himself.

 _I need to talk to you,_ she’d sent, because as much as she wanted to move forward she just couldn't. Not when other kids could get drafted to the Stars and treated in the same ways that Sean was. 

_What’s up_ , came the quick response.

 _I want to release part of the recording_ , she typed back.

A call came into her phone just five seconds later, and Louise was grateful that Kody and Marissa had taken Devin to the park, leaving her alone in the house. It was convenient since Sean’s very loud and angry, “What the fuck, you _promised,_ ” was loud enough that she heard it even with her arm outstretched and her phone away from her face. 

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Louise said without preamble.

“Dude, it totally is,” Sean said. “No team is ever going to want me if they get that recording. No one wants a guy that can’t handle a little teasing in the locker room.”

“Except it wasn’t just a little teasing,” Louise pointed out through gritted teeth. “It was _abusive and mean,_ Sean. They made you skate until you were sick or hurt, and I _watched_ those assholes manhandle you. They were downright awful, and they don’t deserve to get away with it.”

“Well they’ve already lost their number one pick,” Sean snapped. “What more can we do?”

“We can stop it from happening to anyone else,” Louise said. “You got away, but what about the others? The rookies before you? What about the rookies that are going to come after you? Or the first girl they draft? You’re not the only one involved in this, Sean. They’re sexist and they’re bullies and everyone deserves to know it.”

“So because they said some shit to you that makes them sexist?” Sean snorted, and Louise felt anger flood her veins like a violent bolt of lightning. “Dude, this entire league says sexist shit.”

“And that’s not okay!” Louise snapped. “The way they treated you wasn’t okay, and neither was the way they treated me. It wasn’t okay for them to treat any rookie the way they treated you, but you know you’re not the first. Unless we do something, you also won’t be the last.”

“I don’t want to be involved,” Sean said flatly. “It’s embarrassing.”

“Being upset by something shouldn’t be embarrassing,” Louise murmured, trying for the softer approach. “They were awful to you. _Feeling_ something is human, dude.”

“No,” Sean said, and he sounded tired. “You know that’s not how it’ll look. It’ll look like I’m some whiny little…” He trailed off, but Louise could read between the lines. 

She clenched her jaw. “Girl?” she offered flatly as Sean trailed off. “A whiny little girl, right? Or bitch? Is that what you were going to say?”

Sean was quiet, and Louise sighed. “Whatever, I guess it really doesn’t matter, does it? I’m sorry they hurt you and made you miserable, but if we don’t do something they’re just going to continue like nothing happened.”

“So that’s it, then?” Sean demanded. “You’re just going to release it anyway even though I asked you not to?”

“Fuckin’ _duh_ ,” Louise huffed. “But I’m not about to be an asshole about it. I’ll have Brandon edit you out, focus on the shit they did to me instead. I don’t mind being the fall guy if it means no other rookie will ever have to go through it. It’s not like they’re _my_ team, anyway. Or _yours._ ”

"Why can't you just let it go?" Sean asked desperately.

Louise wanted to, she really did. "Because the next Stars rookie won't be so lucky. I can't let it go because it's not over, and it won't be unless we do something. I respect your choice, but I've made my own and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure this never happens ever again."

There was silence from the other side, and Louise let out a shaky breath. “That’s all, I guess. Bye, Sean.”

She hung up without hearing the shaky, “Bye, Louise.”

* * *

She stopped Marlen after practice the next day. “I’m asking Brandon to release the recording,” she said.

Marlen didn’t need to ask for clarification. He had been there, after all, and he knew the situation better than anyone else on their team. “You sure?” he asked slowly. 

“Yes,” Louise said. “I’m going to ask Brandon to edit Sean out. He doesn’t want to be involved.”

Marlen nodded slowly. “No one will like,” he said after a moment. “You get shit. More than you get now.”

“I know,” Louise said. “But if I don’t and Sean won’t, then no one will. And next season they’ll get another rookie to torment, or bring some kid up from the minors. If someone doesn’t end the cycle it will just continue.”

“Yes,” Marlen easily agreed. “You talk to coaches and staff? This will be PR nightmare.”

“Oh yeah,” Louise laughed humorlessly. “I know. I’m meeting with them after practice. Brandon said he’d back me up.”

“I go too,” Marlen offered. “If you want release recording, we release.”

Louise grinned. “Thank you, Cap, but I think this is something I need to do on my own.”

“Never on your own,” Marlen corrected her, placing a heavy hand on her shoulder. “I am behind you. Whole team is. You understand?”

Louise swallowed, her throat thick. “Yeah, I understand.”

Marlen grinned wide. “Good. Go shower for meeting, you stink bad.”

She scowled up at him. “Pretty sure I smell better than _you_ , old man.”

Marlen’s amused cackle echoed through the halls, and Louise had to remind herself that it was different here. She wouldn’t be shamed for what was said to her during the game; her team would have her back, even if Sean’s team hadn’t had his.

* * *

No one was happy about it.

“This will take attention off of hockey, you know,” the Leaf's GM said. “You really want to bring up social issues during the middle of a season?”

“I’m doing this as a courtesy,” Louise said. She was one eighteen-year-old woman sitting amongst almost ten middle-aged white men whose only thoughts involved hockey. “I’m letting you know that I’m releasing the recording. If you want to get on board and have statements drafted ahead of time, great. If you want to scramble at the last second, fine, but that will be on you. This is on me, and I want to do what is right.”

“This will paint you in a bad light,” her coach said. “Toronto media is ruthless. You know that, don’t you?”

Louise nodded slowly. “I know,” she said. “But maybe it’ll change something for the little girl who will be drafted in five years, or the kid that the Stars will draft next year. If I change something for them, then it will be worth it.”

Brandon cleared his throat. “Maybe if you watch the video you’ll be more on board?” he offered.

Even after watching several Stars call Louise awful things, there was still a cloud of hesitancy that hung over the men in the room.

“I want to do this,” Louise said firmly. 

“Fine,” the GM relented. 

Her coach let out a tired sigh. “You’re not getting any extra padding for these checks, kid.”

She had never needed any extra padding before, and she certainly didn’t need it now. She was ready to face those checks head on, so she raised her chin and said, “I know,” with far more confidence than she felt. 

Even with her chin held high, she fisted her hands in her lap to stop them from shaking and hoped her façade of bravado worked. 

* * *

The recording was released to the Toronto media on a cold March morning

Kody knew it was coming, of course. With permission and the coach behind her the whole time, Louise had let him and the rest of the team know what was going on when it was agreed that the recording would be released. Most of her teammates had been quick to vocalize their support and let her know they were on her side. Others had been eerily silent, and that sucked almost worse than if they had been outright against the idea. 

Her phone was off and in Marissa’s clutches, probably hidden somewhere in the house that Louise would never think to check. It was for the best, she decided, except maybe Marissa and Kody should have hidden their own phones because they were both receiving notifications from the NHL app like crazy. 

“Is it bad?” Louise asked when the Sinclairs scrambled to turn off their own phones. She itched to snatch the device to check for herself despite being adamant that she didn’t want to know.

“I don’t know,” Kody said, shoving his phone deep into his pocket. “And you don’t want to, right?”

Louise scowled, but he was right, so she dropped it. Marissa not-so-subtly shoved Devin into her arms to distract her. 

The early morning bled into late morning, and though all was quiet there was a thick tension in the air, like something bad was going to happen. She played with Devin, which was something she actually liked to do, and she even managed to get through a workout with Kody in the basement without thinking about the recording. 

By noon, she had played with Devin, worked out and showered, and read the same page of a book ten times before she just couldn’t take it anymore.

“I need my phone,” Louise told Marissa. “I need to know.”

Marissa hesitated. “Are you sure?” At Louise’s nod, she was quick to return the phone. Turns out it had been in Devin’s diaper bag the whole time. Louise really shouldn’t have been surprised by that.

A weight settled on her chest as she waited for her phone to turn on. She was fully expecting to be the fall guy, after all, be painted the villain who ruined the promising careers of a whole team of hockey men. That’s what women did, after all—ruin the lives of perfectly pleasant men with their complaints and claims. 

Notifications started coming in so fast and in such an amount that her phone crashed twice when she tried to open it. On the third try, she finally managed to see the damage. Her twitter notifications were always off, but all she had to do was open the app to see that she was trending at #6.

Louise had a bajillion texts and missed calls from family, friends, teammates old and current—and Sean. She opened his thread first. It was just four words.

_We need to talk._

Eyes burning, Louise swiped away from the text thread and moved onto the others. She had said all she needed to the last time they had spoken.

Marlen had texted her, a constant stream of smiley emojis and hearts and _got ur back!!))),_ all of which mirrored the texts from her parents and her brothers saying that they were there for her when she was ready to talk about it. 

There was a missed call from her agent, and a single text that said, _You really do like to keep my life interesting, don’t you?_ which was almost funny because he had been the same guy to represent Elle when no one else would. He had been baby-faced and new to the world of sports agency, and Elle was a big name without even trying. She had probably kept his life _way_ more interesting with the crazy situations she managed to land herself in. 

Olivier and Juliet had both texted her as well, with the former offering to buy a ticket to Dallas and personally beating the shit out of everyone on the team and the latter reminding her that she was in school for forensic science and she could _totally get rid of the bodies_. Louise made a mental note to introduce them to each other as soon as possible even though the amount of chaos between the two of them would no doubt end the entire known universe. 

There were many texts from her teammates, but it was Drew’s that caught her eye from several hours before.

 _Drew_ _  
_ _Dude the Stars are being torn apart by the media holy shit_ _  
_ _Like the comments from some fuckbois and old men are really shitty on posts but the articles themselves?? Fucking GOLD dude_ _  
_ _Also like if I see anything remotely green/white come near you I might enter a fugue state and just start punching who tf knows_

The smile on her face hurt with how wide it was, and she briefly wondered if it was possible to strain or pull muscles in the face.

 _Louise_ _  
_ _Honestly surprised you know what fugue means_

The response was almost immediate. 

_Drew_ _  
_ _Oh so you do know how to use your phone!!! Nice!_ _  
_ _Super glad that’s what you got out of all that btw_

Louise snorted. It was a wonder the rest of the team considered him shy. 

_Drew_ _  
_ _But anyway, seriously, read some of those articles. They’re actually not that bad??_ _  
_ _I can send you a few if you’re nervous to look any up_ _  
_ _But not from our token shit stain reporter_ _  
_ _Does every team have one or are we just lucky??_

 _Louise_ _  
_ _Toronto media is notoriously ruthless_

 _Drew_ _  
_ _I know but this specific one is dumb af_ _  
_ _Looool I checked on his twitter and there are a bunch of people going off on him and I love it_

 _Louise_ _  
_ _What did he say about the vid??_

 _Drew_ _  
_ _Bullshit, apparently. I don’t have time for it, but I have some good articles if you want_

She decided to take him up on his offer rather than go through was no doubt hundreds of notifications at that point, and he was quick to send her several links.

Drew was right, and Louise was genuinely surprised to find that the media seemed to be on her side. The Stars were labeled misogynistic bullies, and the media called for each player to be fined severely. The most criticism fell heavily upon Nathan Hawke and Drew Merryfield who had been featured the most prominently in the recording, calling for their suspensions or release from their contracts for their sexist speech. 

Louise rolled her eyes, knowing none of it would happen. Hockey, despite all the steps forward it had taken in the last decade, was still very much a man’s world.

 _Drew_ _  
_ _So how does Sean Pelletier factor into all this??_

 _Louise_ _  
_ _Idk what you mean_

 _Drew_ _  
_ _Okay yeah sure we can go with that_ _  
_ _There’s rumors going around that he was traded because of you since it was right after this recording_

 _Louise_ _  
_ _I don’t have the power to get someone traded bud_

 _Drew_ _  
_ _Maybe you don’t, but I bet that recording does_ _  
_ _Something tells me there’s more than just ten minutes of audio, and I bet he’s involved in it_

 _Louise_ _  
_ _I see you Sherlock Holmes_

 _Drew_ _  
_ _oh word am I actually on the right track??_

 _Louise_ _  
_ _lol like I’d tell you even if you were_

 _Drew_ _  
_ _rude_

 _Louise_ _  
_ 😊

* * *

March went on with an air of frenzy. The Leafs were close to the playoffs, but they weren’t quite in a spot to make it happen. The Stars were securely in a spot, but Seattle and the Coyotes were still just out of reach like the Leafs.

Louise tried her hardest, she really did, but a team is not made on the back of one player, or even two or three players. Hockey is a team sport—and in the end, as a team, they fell just a little bit short of the playoffs. 

The Coyotes clinched, but Seattle fell short just as the Leafs had. Sean had played better in the latter half of the season since he was far away from anyone that would tear him down for every little thing, but his shaky start with the Stars had ruined any hopes he had for the same kind of 30 goal season that Louise had achieved. 

It didn’t even matter to her that she had the most goals and assists out of all rookies and was in the lead in the race for the Calder. She’d give anything to make it to the playoffs, and she was sure Sean would trade anything to make it too.

It really sucked to be getting ready for summer vacation when some teams were about to head into several more weeks of hockey. She would give the sand and sun for ice and bruises any day, but she put away her skates and agreed to meet Juliet for a week of shenanigans in Florida anyway.

* * *

Boris texted Louise asking to meet up for sushi almost as soon as she arrived in Vegas for the NHL awards at the end of June, almost two weeks after the Canucks had won the Stanley Cup.

She agreed, of course, but she might have reconsidered had she known there would be a third guest at the get-together. She saw Boris first as she went to meet him by the door to the restaurant simply because he was a large and imposing figure, but there by his side was the less imposing but still large Sean Pelletier looking about ready to turn tail and flee as Louise approached.

Boris greeted her with the same excitement he always seemed to have, and Sean was far more subdued. They hadn’t spoken since she had seen his text and ignored it, but obviously Boris was on good enough terms with him to invite him to lunch.

“What happened with trade?” was one of the first things Boris asked when they were seated. His English vocabulary had certainly grown, and he made good use of it right away.

Louise finally took a moment to really look at Sean. His shoulders were no longer tight with worry and fear, and he was completely at ease when he said, “I didn’t like it there.” The fact that he was able to admit it without the same kind of shame that Louise had heard earlier that season spoke volumes of his experience with Seattle versus Dallas.

Though they hadn’t spoken in months, Louise couldn’t help the small burst of pride at how far he had come.

“Why not?” Boris asked curiously.

“We didn’t get along,” Sean said with a shrug. “I asked for a trade.”

“And they… agree? Like that?”

Louise shoved a piece of her salmon roll into her mouth to keep from cackling when Sean shot her a look. 

“Something like that,” Sean said. “Let’s just say I knew some persuasive people. Enough about that, though. How was your season, man?”

Boris hummed thoughtfully. “Too short. Make playoffs good, but suck to lose.”

Sean nodded along. “Yeah, I get that. Next year I bet all three of us will make it.”

“Good,” Boris said with a devilish grin. “Want to knock one of you out of playoffs.”

“In your dreams, bud,” Louise snorted.

Boris laughed, and then jolted like he suddenly remembered something. “Oh! I got dog!”

Louise squealed. “Pictures!” she demanded, and Boris pulled out his phone to oblige.

* * *

_Boris_ _  
_ _Hi guys!_

_Louise changed the group name to Terrible Trio._

_Boris_ _  
_ _We are terrible?(_

 _Sean_ _  
_ _In a good way!_

 _Boris_ _  
_ _Terrible can mean good?_

 _Louise_ _  
_ _We can be terribly good haha!_ _  
_ _Send more dog pics please :)_

 _Boris_ _  
_ _)))))_ _  
_ _Attachment: 5 images_

* * *

Louise didn’t care that seating was supposed to be assigned, and neither did Boris, it seemed. He was already plopped down in one seat next to Sean even though he wasn’t supposed to be there, and he grinned over at Louise when she took the seat on his other side.

“Late,” Boris chided with a tsk.

“Hey, it takes time to look this good, okay?” Louise snickered. “Besides, _you_ try getting ready in time when both of your older brothers are drama queens and want to look good on TV when we get panned over by the cameras.”

Sean rolled his eyes at their antics. “Yeah, my mom wasn’t very happy when I told her I wanted to find a place where we could sit together. I don’t think she realizes how hard it is to keep in contact with people you don’t see during the season.”

“Seattle help contact, teach you how respond to text,” Boris chirped, and Sean snickered.

“Going there was definitely for the better,” he agreed, sharing a sneaky look with Louise.

For the first time in months, Louise smiled back at Sean and meant it. 

* * *

Cameras panned over to the three of them sitting in their seats and then over to the third nominee, Finnish forward Aimo Nieminen from the Detroit Red Wings.

Boris was Louise’s favorite person ever. As soon as the previews for all Calder nominees started playing on the screens onstage, he grabbed both her hand and Sean’s, squeezing them tightly.

“And the Calder Memorial Trophy goes to…” There was a pause, for dramatic effect, of course. Louise could appreciate a good dramatic pause. “… From the Toronto Maple Leafs, Louise Mackenzie!”

Louise didn’t even hear her name get called over the sound of Boris’s loud yell, but suddenly people were clapping and he was pulling her to her feet and into a big hug, babbling in a mix of broken English and Russian.

He released her, and Sean took his place, giving her a slightly more relaxed hug as he murmured congratulations in her ear. She pulled away and looked back a few rows where her family was sitting, waving at them when Landon and Levi started hooting over everyone else.

Walking toward the stage was a big blur, but there was suddenly a trophy in her hands and she was standing in front of a mic as applause died down.

“Wow,” she said. “This is a huge honor, thank you so much! First I want to congratulate Aimo and Sean on a great season, you guys killed it out there and it was amazing playing against you.” She smiled over at each of them. 

“Uh, thank you to the coaches and staff and owners, but most importantly thank you to my team.” She tried to look for Marlen in the crowd, knowing that he had been nominated for the Norris, but was unable to find him. “Without you guys I wouldn’t be standing up here. You make me a better player and a better person, and I’m so thankful to have landed with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Thank you to the fans who supported me all season, and everyone who has led me to this moment. This award goes out to my mom and dad for supporting me in everything I ever wanted to do, and to my brothers who never let me win ball hockey.” 

A laugh rose up from the crowd, and Louise grinned. 

“I also want to say to all the little girls out there that are seeing this moment in the same way I watched Elle Queen or Miz Nasty get drafted and win Cups: you can do it. It will be hard work, but anything is possible.”

“Oh, and to my friends in Dallas: eat your hearts out.” 

* * *

**Calder Winner Louise Mackenzie, First Woman Drafted in the First Round of NHL, Becomes First Woman to Win Rookie of the Year** **  
** _Posted: 4 hours ago_

* * *

**_Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest_ **

_Levi_ _  
_ _So like how many more records are you gonna break Lou??_ _  
_ _I need to know_ _  
_ _I could be making some good money rn_

 _Landon_ _  
_ 🤡🤡🤡  
_Why are you the way that you are_

 _Louise_ _  
_ _^_

 _Levi_ _  
_ _:)_ _  
_ _You better be getting the Cup next, you’d be the first woman to be drafted in the first round, win the Calder, AND the Cup_ _  
_ _  
_ _Landon_ _  
_ _We can’t be forgetting MVP_ _  
_ _That Conn Smythe do be looking fine tho_ _  
_ _Get that hardware Lou_

 _Louise_ _  
_ _Why is it even when you’re nice to me I still feel like I’m being chirped?_

 _Levi_ _  
_ _That’s love, bitch_

 _Landon_ _  
_ _That’s derogatory, dumbass_

 _Landon_ _  
_ _FINE_ _  
_ _That’s love, FUCKERS_

 _Louise_ _  
_ 🤦🏻♀️

* * *

**Sean Pelletier**  
_@toptiersean_

RETWEET:  
_@NSDAhockey_  
Sean Pelletier tells all about half-season with Stars, trade, and new start with Seattle on this week’s episode of Behind the Gear Podcast 

* * *

_Sean_ _  
_ _Soooo is it too late for you ask your guy to release the rest of that recording?_

 _Louise_ _  
_ _why_ _  
_ _what did you do_ _  
_ _BRO MY TWITTER NOTIFS_ _  
_ _I hate you_ _  
_ _but I’m on it_

* * *

**Louise Mackenzie**  
_@macnlouise_

@toptiersean is my hero thank you sir for doing what is right <3

**Louise Mackensie**  
_@macnlouise_

Also @DallasStars hockey media has its 🎶 eyessss on yooooou 🎶

* * *

_Drew_ _  
_ _Loooolllll they placed those two asshats on waivers pending an investigation with the whole stars team_ _  
_ _also I was right_ _  
_ _I’m a genius_

 _Louise_ _  
_ _yes much smart very investigate_

 _Drew_ _  
_ _shhhhh let me have this_

* * *

_Louise_ _  
_ _You brilliant bastard_

 _Sean_ _  
_ _It was really only part of my apology, so here’s the rest: I’m sorry. Thank you for sticking up for me and every other kid that will play on that team in the future._

 _Louise_ _  
_ _Of course bud <3 _

* * *

There were the names of exactly three women on the Stanley Cup.

Louise took her place at the faceoff dot for the first game of her sophomore season, staring down the Coyote captain in front of her. She took a deep breath and held her stick exactly as she was supposed to in order to get the best angle to steal the puck. 

She didn’t know it yet, but her future was bright. She didn’t know that in just a few short years she would be staring across the faceoff dot as a final buzzer screeched loud overhead. She didn’t know what the sound of her victorious team screaming and hollering sounded like. Louise didn’t know that she would scream long and loud right alongside them and the crowd, and she didn’t know that thirty-five pounds of silver weighed practically nothing with the rush of happiness and adrenaline. She didn’t know that she would be sweaty and gross for one of the happiest moments of her life, but that didn’t matter to nineteen-year-old Louise in Arizona.

All Louise knew was that she would play her best and for as long as she could with a team that she loved and a whole cast of supporters behind her, and that was enough. Louise didn’t know what her future held, but in the present she knew that she had a faceoff to win and a game to play.

She didn’t need know that there was a Cup that would one day have Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs Louise Mackenzie as the fourth woman to have their name engraved on it, but some things were better left as a surprise, anyway. 

The puck dropped, and Louise moved forward.


End file.
